Superintendent of the Year (SOTY)

PURPOSE

Since 1984, the Superintendent of the Year (SOTY) award program has honored outstanding Texas administrators for achievement and excellence in public school administration.

Candidates are chosen for their strong leadership skills, dedication to improving the quality of education in their school districts, commitment to public support and involvement in education, and ability to build good employee relations among teachers and staff members.

AWARD & SPONSOR

The Superintendent of the Year receives a $5,000 award, which will be presented at the 2015 Texas Association of School Administrators/Texas Association of School Boards (TASA/TASB) Annual Convention in Austin. The award program is underwritten by Balfour and sponsored by TASB.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

The Superintendent of the Year will be selected for exhibiting leadership in his or her school district in the following areas:

Student Performance

Administration and School Climate

School Board-Superintendent Relations

School Improvement

Fiscal Management

Facilities Management

Instructional Management

Student Management

Personnel Management

School-Community Relations

SELECTION PROCEDURE

The ESC will coordinate the regional screening part of the TASB selection process. Members of the regional screening committee represent districts that do not have superintendents nominated for the award and do not have board members on the state selection committee.

Each regional screening committee will submit one nomination to the TASB State Selection Committee. A list of regional service centers and addresses to which nominations may be submitted is posted with the SOTY nomination information at tasb.org/soty.

TASB State Selection Committee. The state selection committee is typically composed of TASB directors appointed by the TASB president to serve on the Member Services Committee. A director may not serve if the superintendent from his or her district is being considered.

ELIGIBILITY & NOMINATIONS

A local school board that is currently an "Active Member" of TASB may nominate its superintendent for the award. Entries must be either post-marked by May 15, 2015, or delivered to the designated regional ESC by close of business that day.

Nominees must have served as superintendent of the district since September 1, 2012; be a TASA member; meet the State Board for Educator Certification continuing professional education requirement; and be an active superintendent at the time of the 2015 TASA/TASB Convention.

Superintendents who receive the top state award cannot be nominated again during the following five-year period. This rule does not apply to superintendents who were named regional winners or state finalists.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

Entry forms (available at right) must be completed by the school board and signed by the board president, along with a resolution indicating the board’s decision to nominate the superintendent. A basic resume (no more than three pages) with a photo of the superintendent on a separate page should be attached with the completed entry. Please be sure to specify current involvement in professional organizations on the resume. Please do not submit a spiral-bound entry or include additional documentation or photos. Response to each major heading on the entry should be limited to one page (front only).

To save space on the final entry sent to the ESC, questions need not be restated under each major category. Please retain headings and page numbers for clarity. Use a 12-point Times New Roman font, 1.5-line spacing, and 1-inch margins. Please note that board action is required for the resolution. Participating districts should place an item to cover this on their next board meeting agenda.

SCHEDULE

May 15: Nomination submissions due to the designated ESC

June 30: Regional screening completed and nominations submitted to TASB

August 14-15: All regional winners interviewed and five finalists chosen by the TASB State Selection Committee

October 2 at Convention: Finalists interviewed and Superintendent of the Year chosen by TASB state selection committee